Chief nursing officer for NHS executive group appointed

Ruth May has been appointed the chief nursing officer for the new NHS executive group.

Ms May has been the executive director of nursing at NHS Improvement April 2016. Prior to that she was the Nursing Director at one of its predecessor organisations, Monitor, since July 2015. Before that, Ruth was Regional Chief Nurse and Nurse Director for the Midlands and East region of NHS England.

‘I’m delighted Ruth May has been appointed Chief Nursing Officer in the new NHS Executive Group,’ said Dame Donna Kinnair, Acting Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing. ‘Ruth brings many years of nursing and leadership experience to the role, and has worked closely with the College during her time as Executive Director of Nursing at NHS Improvement. She will be a powerful and passionate voice for nursing in England within the new NHS group.

Ms May began her career with a variety of nursing roles before becoming a theatre sister at Frimley Park Hospital. She was Acting Director of Nursing at Barnet Hospital, then substantive Director of Nursing and Deputy Chief Executive with Havering Primary Care Trust. She has also served as Chief Executive of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn, and Mid-Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust.

‘Nursing staff will be at the heart of all plans to provide care fit for the 21st century and the nurse leadership voice is crucial to the broad health and care policy debate. Ministers need that perspective inside Government as well as in the NHS and the RCN still wishes to see a chief nurse post reinstated at the Department of Health and Social Care,’ added Dame Kinnair.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: ‘We are pleased to announce the newest members of our joint NHS Executive Group, an important milestone in the closer working arrangement between NHS England and NHS Improvement. This team will now support the NHS over the coming years in delivering the new NHS Long Term Plan.’

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